Review: EDUCATING RITA, The Minack Theatre

The Minack Theatre doesn't need my recommendation to be a success. Renowned - even outside of theatre circles - as being the most beautifully unique performance space in the country, people travel for hours just for a glimpse of it, with the production itself often becoming secondary to its setting. Luckily, in this case, the quality of the play in question more than matched the beauty of its surroundings.

My recent visit as a first-timer to this much-celebrated space was to see Educating Rita - a truncated version of the David Pugh production that was due to tour the country, pre-Covid. I wasn't there on a press trip, I was there purely as a punter, desperate to achieve a long-lived ambition to visit the Minack, and to see Stephen Tompkinson perform live (big fan). So, is this going to be a traditional review? No. Much like the Minack myself, Educating Rita is already a critical success, and the show is totally sold out. Instead, let me take you on a journey of the post-Covid Minack experience, complete with highly uncool, emotionally fuelled gushings. Brace yourselves.

Let me confirm any rumours you may have heard about the Cornish weather - it is insane and utterly unpredictable. As many advised me, you need to go armed with anoraks and jumpers and sunglasses and shorts and woolly hats and plastic ponchos for good measure. As we were guided into the Minack car park by a very cheery attendant, the weather was decidedly grey - not too chilly, but there was a whiff of rain in the air which I was blindly refusing to acknowledge.

The standing queue began to form in the small car park directly outside the theatre entrance, with several staff on hand to ensure that we queued in a snake-like fashion, using the car park markings as guidance for social distancing. The information shack in the car park was open, serving snacks and refreshments, and it also acted as a relocated gift shop selling a limited selection of merchandise.

Upon reaching the check-in desk, we were given information about the one-way system inside the theatre, and asked to clean our hands with the sanitiser provided. We obliged, and as we turned the corner to see our first glimpse of the Minack in all its glory, the sun suddenly emerged and the sea began to sparkle as if diamonds were dancing on the swell. The grey had disappeared, and it was like we were in our own little micro-climate. What witchcraft IS this?! I will forever swear that it was magic.

Sadly, the indoor cafe and exhibition centre were closed, but with the beauty of the botanical gardens to explore, it didn't feel like we were left wanting. The Terrace snack bar was open - which is nestled in between the raked seating areas - and remained open throughout the performance, too, so there were plenty of opportunities to refuel.

As we wandered through the gardens to the first usher (it felt SO good to encounter an usher for the first time in six months...all hail FOH staff!), we were checked in again and guided to our row by a different usher, who allocated us our 'seats' on the row. Each row doesn't have specific seat area markings, but under usual circumstances (or if you're from the same household/bubble), each one can fit six to seven people.

As I was there with one person from my bubble, we were sat at the far end of the row, and told that if anyone else was placed in our row, it would be no more than two people and they'd be at the opposite end. It all felt very controlled and safe, and it transpired that no one else sat on our row, so we had incredible amounts of space. Every other row was left free to ensure distancing was observed, so there was at least a metre between us and the people in front and behind us.

Even if one hasn't been to the Minack, most are familiar with the much-photographed views of the stone-carved stage nestled with the epic backdrop of Porthcurno Bay. But there is nothing like being there in person. We've all talked a lot recently about the value that online theatre has delivered to us during lockdown, and debated how it may have a future alongside traditional theatre. That remains a relevant and important discussion, but deep down we all know that a live, in-person experience can deliver something far more special, and the Minack is the finest example of that.

It's tempting to spend the whole time taking photos, but there is value in just letting yourself sit with what's in front of you. With every seat in the theatre offering a more beautiful view than the last, there is surely no audience member who would be disappointed. During the performance, it's essential to let the eye wander at times and observe the sea as it brightly ebbs and flows (no dolphin sightings for us, sadly!), to take in the sweeping coastline...and as the sun sets and the stage lights come up, the mood shifts from excitement to a kind of spellbinding tranquility. There's something about being by the sea at night that evokes a contradictory sense of serene foreboding, which is rather affecting and made my heart beat a little bit faster.

But let's get onto the production in question, because although it doesn't need my rave review, it's sure going to get one. Educating Rita depicts the journey of a middle-aged professor called Frank, who is enlisted into his first Open University tutoring experience. Rita, a working-class woman in her thirties, is his first student. His highly cerebral yet slightly shambolic existence clashes with Rita's unaffected manner and worldly views at first, but over time they both open each other's eyes, and hearts, to new ideas and experiences.

In this Willy Russell production, Stephen Tompkinson brings a sardonic wit to the intellectual Frank - he's an unhappy and disillusioned drunk but he knows it, and is likeable in his self-deprecation. Jessica Johnson has a tough job as Rita, with epically long and rapid monologues, delivered with such pace that it feels like she barely takes a breath for 90 minutes. Her handling of this material is impressive, and she has you immediately in the palm of her hand.

Despite this production losing around 18 minutes from its original run time, nothing in the narrative feels wanting. Speaking to producer David Pugh, he explains how this transition came about:

"The idea to move the production to the Minack came about when I heard that they had made their own enquiry about doing their own production of 'Educating Rita'. So I called up Zoe [Curnow, Executive Director of the Minack], who I know well, and asked her if it was true, and that I had a production of it ready to go.

"When we did the numbers at first, they just didn't make sense, and I didn't want to take the risk...but before I knew it, I was on a train down to Cornwall, and within a few hours we'd done the deal! Willy was the first phone call I made from the Minack, and he worked with the director to reduce the run time and remove the interval. Hopefully, audiences agree that there aren't any obvious gaps."

Indeed, I felt that the deepening relationship between Rita and Frank felt authentic, and the time jumps actually gives the piece a nice pace. My only requirement for longer scenes would purely be so that it wasn't over so quickly. The set design has also been scaled back heavily from its original intention, with simple, unending rows of books forming a charming backdrop to the action.

The Minack's stunning setting can be a curse as well as a blessing, though, as Pugh elaborates:

"Finding a way to produce shows right now isn't easy, but we have to give audiences and investors confidence that demand is there and that we will survive. I tweeted about driving around Cornwall buying out all the clingfilm to wrap our thousands of books that form part of our set - I think if anyone touched our set at this point, it would just crumble! My stage manager and I also went on a mission to buy hundreds of paperweights, because the paperwork that Rita writes on kept flying all over the place. The rain isn't the biggest problem, it's the wind - and we've got to have two different types of sound mixing and various radio mics to use depending on the weather. We just make a decision each day which we're going to use."

Speaking to Pugh about the risk of producing theatre in this environment, he has a very clear view - it's absolutely necessary:

"We are completely buzzing, because we are working. It's as simple as that. The figures are tight - we will break even as long as we don't have to cancel more than 2.5 shows - but we're keeping people in work and that's what's important. In fact, we are the only play that's currently performing on stage in the UK right now, and I'm proud of that.
It's been a joy to be able to produce as I should produce. The reaction from everyone involved in creating this piece, as well as the audience, has been very special, and I think it can give us all hope."

Hope. Isn't that exactly what we're all craving right now? Being perched on the edge of the country and sharing this unique experience with my fellow patrons was a very unifying and intimate experience. I felt more connected than I had in a long time - to strangers, to the natural beauty of our shores...and to my precious theatre community. It filled me up in a way that nothing but theatre can, and that's in equal parts due to the friendly theatre staff, the superb cast, the brave creatives, and the enchanting magic of the Cornish coast.

Educating Rita is sold out, but you can find tickets for future Minack shows here

Professional photo credit: Lynn Batten

Additional photos: Caroline Cronin

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